New Conceptual Bird Portrait - Brown Pelican

Rough mock-up for the first in a new series of planned 36" x 36" oil on canvas portraits of birds with patterned backgrounds.

Paintings for Kids

Two 12x12 oil on canvas paintings created for my twin grandsons' 4th birthdays.  May all their wishes come true:  to be as powerful as Darth Vader (but not use that power for evil); as adventurous as an astronaut, as strong and brave as a lion, and as athletic as a mountain biker

For Father's Day

Thinking of my father, younger, on his bicycle in the early 1970's, and the recent trip to Rochester, Indiana with him, now nearly 93 years old.  The sun in Indiana was hot and muggy, there were beautiful red cardinals in the backyard, where our rental car was parked, behind the fence with the irises and the neighbor's shed.  Today my dad is in the hospital.  Not the best way to spend the day but, hopefully, he'll ride out of there and go one for awhile longer enjoying the sunshine.

Scissors and Knives

Artist Aunt Reva Autrey Lane has an enviable collection of old scissors in her farm house in Rochester, Indiana.  She generously gave me a few of them.  After photographing her collection, I was driven to find more at various antique stores in Indiana, for the pen & ink and watercolor painting above, and as inspiration for future studies.

Portraits of my Father in Indiana

The Future Includes the Past

Digital photo art collage created for the new Illustration Friday, combining photos from the early 1970s with a more recent pen & ink and watercolor still life

My Military Experience

On the streets of Madrid, May, 1970, during the military parade for the anniversary of the victory of Franco.  One of the only benefits of living under a dictatorship was that, with so many Guardia Civil around, it was pretty safe to walk the streets without a guardian.